Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2012 Jan;4(1):49-51. 10.4168/aair.2012.4.1.49.

A Case of Occupational Rhinitis Induced by Maize Pollen Exposure in a Farmer: Detection of IgE-Binding Components

• Sung SY
• Lee WY
• Yong SJ
• Shin KC
• Park HS
• Kim HM
• Kim SH

• KMID: 2130379
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aair.2012.4.1.49

Abstract

Corn is a major staple food, along with rice and wheat, in many parts of the world. There are several reports of hypersensitivity to maize pollen. However, cases of occupational allergic rhinitis induced by inhalation of maize pollen are very rare. We herein report the case of a 67-year-old male with occupational rhinitis caused by occupational exposure to maize pollen in a cornfield. He showed positive responses to maize pollen, as well as grass pollens, in skin prick tests. A high level of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) specific to maize pollen extracts was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Laboratory tests showed a high serum level of total IgE (724 kU/L) and a high level of IgE specific to maize pollen (8.32 kU/L) using the Immuno-CAP system. Occupational rhinitis was confirmed by a nasal provocation test with maize pollen extracts. IgE ELISA inhibition tests showed antibody cross-reactivity between maize pollen and grass pollen extracts. IgE immunoblotting using maize pollen extracts demonstrated a 27 kDa IgE-binding component. These findings suggest that maize pollen can induce IgE-mediated occupational rhinitis in exposed workers.

Keyword

Grass pollen; immunoglobulin E; maize pollen; nasal provocation test; occupational rhinitis

MeSH Terms

Aged
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoblotting
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulins
Inhalation
Male
Nasal Provocation Tests
Occupational Exposure
Poaceae
Pollen
Rhinitis
Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial
Skin
Triticum
Zea mays
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Maize pollen nasal provocation test. The patient stood in a room for 15 min while pouring maize pollen into each hand with a cup.

• 

  Fig. 2 (A) Serum specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to (a) crude maize pollen and (b) commercial maize pollen were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using sera from our patient (●) and 11 normal controls (○). (B) Crude maize pollen-specific IgE was confirmed in patient sera by ELISA inhibition tests using crude maize pollen (●), commercial maize pollen (○), timothy grass pollen (▲), rye grass pollen (×), corn (■), and Dermatophagoides (D.) pteronyssinus (◆) allergens.

• 

  Fig. 3 Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoglobulin E immunoblotting assays were performed with (A) crude and (B) commercial maize pollens using sera from our patient, sera from normal controls, and a buffer control. P, our patient; NC, normal controls; B, buffer control.

Reference

1. Goss JA. Development, physiology, and biochemistry of corn and wheat pollen. Bot Rev. 1968. 34:333–359.

2. Aylor DE. Settling speed of corn (Zea mays) pollen. J Aerosol Sci. 2002. 33:1601–1607.

3. Pleasants JM, Hellmich RL, Dively GP, Sears MK, Stanley-Horn DE, Mattila HR, Foster JE, Clark P, Jones GD. Corn pollen deposition on milkweeds in and near cornfields. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001. 98:11919–11924.

4. Gonzalo-Garijo MA, Pérez-Calderón R, Muñoz-Rodríguez A, Tormo-Molina R, Silva-Palacios I. Hypersensitivity to maize pollen. Allergy. 2004. 59:365.

5. Freeman GL. Oral corn pollen hypersensitivity in Arizona Native Americans: some sociologic aspects of allergy practice. Ann Allergy. 1994. 72:415–417.

6. Kim JH, Kim JE, Choi GS, Hwang EK, An S, Ye YM, Park HS. A case of occupational rhinitis caused by rice powder in the grain industry. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2010. 2:141–143.

7. Palomares O, Fernández-Nieto M, Villalba M, Rodríguez R, Cuesta-Herranz J. Occupational allergy in a researcher due to Ole e 9, an allergenic 1,3-beta-glucanase from olive pollen. Allergy. 2008. 63:784–785.

8. Atis S, Tutluoglu B, Sahin K, Yaman M, Küçükusta AR, Oktay I. Sensitization to sunflower pollen and lung functions in sunflower processing workers. Allergy. 2002. 57:35–39.

9. Barraclough R, Bradshaw L, Barber C, Curran A, Fishwick D. Latent period for symptomatic sensitization in bakeries. Occup Med (Lond). 2005. 55:580.

10. Chan-Yeung M. Occupational asthma. Chest. 1990. 98:148S–161S.

11. Malo JL, Lemière C, Desjardins A, Cartier A. Prevalence and intensity of rhinoconjunctivitis in subjects with occupational asthma. Eur Respir J. 1997. 10:1513–1515.

12. Stewart GA. Adkinson NF, Bochner BS, Busse WW, Holgate ST, Lemanske RF, Simons FE, editors. The structure and function of allergens. Middleton's allergy: principles & practice. 2009. Philadelphia: Elsevier;569–608.